Surly Bonds of Earth
by Saphroneth
Summary: Eustace Clarence Scrubb, who went to Narnia and left as the Un-Dragoned. But being a dragon sat well with him, so would he want to give it up?
1. Loch Cluanie

Eustace Clarence Scrubb felt himself to be quite pleased, when he thought about it.

Through a combination of insistence, wheedling, logical argument and not a little minor bribery, he had managed to get approval from both his parents and his aunt and uncle for him and his older (and supposedly thereby more responsible) cousins, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, to take themselves camping in the highlands of Scotland for a week. Uncle had been quite pleased with his nephew's idea, declaring it to be a sign he was "toughening up", and making him "the sort of man the Empire needs".

Eustace wasn't sure of that at all, if he was truly honest with himself; though he rarely thought of it and only more rarely admitted it to himself, his king wasn't on a throne in a palace, at least not all the time.

The King he truly respected was the one who had saved his life, bled for him, and been willing to die for him and any one of his people.

He found it still harder to remember that, by the laws of that strange land of Narnia, his cousins were all kings and queens, all four (though how that worked was beyond him – could you have two kings at once, let alone three?) but he grudgingly admitted that he would probably follow them as well, if it really mattered.

But that was another matter, for another time. For now, he had to make sure he made it to their first stop.

"I do wish that my pack weighed less, is all." He grumbled, though a connoisseur of Grumbles of the Eustace variety would detect a note of good nature in there. In truth, he could barely restrain himself from attempting to run – or at least jog – all the way to their campsite.

But that would do him no favours at all, so he did not.

"Why, oh cousin my cousin, what's the problem?" Lucy asked him sweetly. "I rather thought this was your idea, after all."

"For your information, your majesty," he smirked briefly, "It makes little sense to me that I, as the youngest, must carry more than my share of the pack."

Edmund chuckled. "Feel free to leave your sleeping bag and tent behind, dear cousin. Just don't blame us when you end up sleeping on the hard ground under the rain!"

Eustace smiled sourly. "Point made and taken, your very, very highness. Might Irecommend you become something more of a lowness instead? I hear the branches ahead are particularly low, and someone of your inflated height might well get hung up by the chin."

Lucy laughed delightedly. "Ed, Ed! Did you hear? He made an actual joke!"

That boy did a double take. "Why, so he did. Do you think we brought the right Eustace back from Narnia with us?"

"Oh, go jump in a lake. Maybe you'll end up back there to go and look."

* * *

"Eustace? Where are you going?"

Eustace winced. He'd hoped to have managed to sneak out every night, yet here he was, caught on the very first day.

Edmund sleepily opened the front of his own tent. "What is it, Lu?"

"Ed, I think Eustace was trying to go somewhere without our seeing or hearing him!"

The younger boy sighed. Ah well, he supposed they at least could find out. "Follow me, you two. I may as well show you."

Curiously blinking sleep from their eyes, Lucy and Edmund threw on coats over their night things.

The two Pevensies followed the Scrubb through the gathering gloom, carefully picking their way over tree branches and past trunks.

Lucy squinted. "Do we have to go much farther? It's getting dark, and we only have one torch to make our way back."

"Just a little further…" Eustace reassured them. "I think it's over the next rise."

The siblings topped the small uplift in the ground, and were confronted by an astonishingly beautiful vista, the red sunlight shining over the mountains at one end of a large Loch – perhaps five or six miles in length.

Eustace smiled gently. "Loch Cluanie. When it was decided where we were going, I read rather a lot about it."

Edmund and Lucy both looked around them in wonder.

"This… this is beautiful, Eustace. Is this what…"

He shook his head, then wobbled a hand. "Almost. But it's not quite why I came out here tonight. Here."

He passed over his notebook. Both Pevensies recognized it as the one that had been through the most with him, from Cambridge to the seas of Narnia, and even to the eastern end of that world. It was mostly full of sour comments about themselves that seemed to have been written before or early in the voyage.

"Last page with any writing on it." He said, softly.

Lucy turned to it, and her eyes widened. "It's beautifully written."

"Not my words. I only copied it down, but I took great care about it."

"I don't understand, though. Why…" Edmund tailed off.

The Scrubb boy unbuttoned the long shirt he was wearing, and shrugged it off his shoulders. "I never really lost it, you know. It just… went away for a while."

Then he looked to the sky, breathed in deeply, closed his eyes – and a bronze-coloured dragon leapt into the air from the hillside, as Eustace Clarence Scrubb, the Un-Dragoned, once more flew on wings of finespun gold.

Eyes shining, Lucy caressed the words in Eustace' book, written out in his best hand.

* * *

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager form through footless halls of air...

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.

Where never lark, or even eagle flew —

And, while with silent lifting mind I have trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

- Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

* * *

Edmund, meanwhile, looked on as his cousin joyfully threw himself back into the ocean of air that had borne him for a time in Narnia, and smiled himself.

"Truly," he whispered, "you make a better dragon than you ever do a boy."

* * *

So, I saw this film, see, and then a Plot Bunny looking very scaly and with large wings struck...

Basically, since Eustace seemed to mind being a dragon a lot less in the film, and I have something of an... interest... in dragons, I wondered: what would he perhaps come to miss about his experience? And would he want to go back to being human all the time?

The poem is called "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. I actually started with the title of the piece and couldn't remember where I got it from, but as soon as I saw the whole poem I knew I had to include it. One change made: instead of "form", the original talks about the author's "craft", but of course Eustace doesn't need one...  
The Loch also exists - it is, however, one that didn't look the same before 1957. I assume that as a fairly remote location it would be the sort of place one might go to not be seen.

I'm currently looking into doing a sort of running tour of Silver Chair with this alteration to Eustace. Should be fun.


	2. Sir Eustace

Eustace and Jill looked from their hiding place at the great Narnian ship.

The boy frowned to himself. "Well, that's not how he looked last time I saw him, for certain. Hold on here a minute, Jill, I think I need to go and see an old… friend, yes, and probably more."

Jill turned at the odd note in Eustace' tone, but started back in shock.

* * *

The Narnian honour guard whirled at the sound of a great beast roaring, and several went for their bows, swords or axes - depending on whether the person was a satyr, centaur, human, dwarf or minotaur - as a huge dragon sprung from a dense thicket by the waterside.

They, brave man and beast all, prepared to sell their lives dearly in defence of their liege.

"Stand down."

The soft words carried a hint of the steel that had made Caspian the King he was, and carried to all his men.

His guard commander shook his head. "No, sire. Not while a dragon threatens you, not now, nor ever."

One of the minotaur suddenly straightened with recognition.

The king's weak voice came once more. "Yes, he has the right of it. That's no monster, for all that he's a dragon. Put up your weapons. Now."

With the last word, it was as if decades had fallen away from Caspian. A vitality filled him, a recognition of something from his youth, and the energy of youth seemed to follow the memory.

"Attend me - and help me up, my captain. I want to greet him on my own two feet."

* * *

The men on the boat, and the watchers onshore, saw the great bronze beast stoop on the boat, roaring to the skies – and then collapse in upon itself to become a human child, dressed in outlandish gear.

That boy knelt to the king before him. "Your servant, my king Caspian of Narnia."

The old king's lips quirked. "I see your manners have improved since our last meeting, Sir Eustace Un-Dragoned. Or perhaps not so Un-Dragoned as all that."

Eustace rose. "I wouldn't have wanted to stay a dragon – but neither to be completely human. It's impossible to describe, I think, but it's simply because of the sheer _joy_ of flight. I wouldn't give it up for anything less than the world – my world – to live in. And I didn't have to."

"I think I understand. Well, it seems that same difference between our worlds is still in place. It has been seventy years and more since we voyaged on the Dawn Treader, for me. Yet you've hardly aged a day."

The boy quirked his head with a smile. "I should say I _have_ aged a day! In fact, I'm about a year older now than then. Maybe closer to two – I've not counted. But in any case, the Pevensie kings and queens are well – though I think cousin Susan has suffered badly from the realization that Narnia is closed to her. She… she was taken with you, though she tried to put a brave face on it when she was told you planned to marry another."

For a moment, the aged monarch drifted off into might-have-been. "Yes, I can see that. Be sure to let her know that it was reciprocated." He shook his head with some effort, casting off the bittersweet memories. "But what brings you to Narnia, Eustace?"

"The Lion. I think he intended us to help you with your most pressing problem."

Caspian sighed. "Well, I'm grateful if you can help. My only heir disappeared some years ago to the North. And I'm about to go on my last voyage east, so you can most surely see the problem."

The dragon-boy nodded. "I see. Succession, then?"

"You have the right of it. I do not know if he is dead, but know this – if he is truly gone, then there is none I would trust better on the throne than yourself, even as a regent until you choose another. You are related enough to King Peter and the rest."

Eustace shuddered. "Well, that's certainly an incentive to find him. I don't think I could manage such a thing."

Caspian laughed, which turned into a cough. His bodyguard captain reinforced his grip on the aged king. "Sire, I think you had better be back to bed."

"Yes, yes, I'm not dead yet. Well, Eustace, fare well. You have but to ask for assistance and you will get it."

The boy nodded. "A school… friend, I suppose, of mine came with me. Jill Poll. Would it impose on you too much were I to bring her over to meet you?"

"It would not, though you'll probably have to catch up to the ship a-wing. And my subjects will insist I lie down."

"By your leave then, your majesty?" It was… exhilarating, he supposed. Being back in Narnia, being able to make it up to the king he'd been so rude to…

And, of course, to properly stretch his wings. After the Cluanie trip, he'd been unable to find the time to shift without being noticed.

* * *

"Well, Poll, I managed to secure an introduction to King Caspian for you. The only problem is, he's a bit old by now and – is something wrong?"

Jill pointed at Eustace. "Dragon! What? How?"

"Oh, it's a little left-over of my time here. I was frightfully greedy, and that turned me into a dragon when I thought dragonish thoughts on a dragon's hoard. But I came to like it, for all that it wasn't how I was born, and when Aslan removed me from that shape… some of it remained. And it's something I treasure." His eyes got a faraway look she'd seen a couple of times before that year, often in class as a matter of fact. "To fly is a beautiful thing. But to be the one flying… to defy gravity, to pit your wings against the endless air and to know that only you shape your course, held aloft by naught but your own strength… ah, there are no words."

The girl had managed to regain some of her balance. "So… you were a dragon? Are a dragon? You never mentioned that when you were telling me about this place."

"You're only the third person in our entire world to know. My cousins who went with me know it all, and the other two Pevensies know I was a dragon but not that it… stayed."

The boy then turned back to the sea. "And if we're going to meet my old friend, then you better make a choice. On my back, or in my hand?"

Jill trembled. "I don't think that I'd do well on your back… I might fall off."

"True. We had better pick up some rope when we get ready to head north." Eustace crouched. "Don't worry – it'll be a short flight."

And with those perhaps less than comforting words, he once more exploded outwards.

* * *

When dragon and girl returned to the ship, which bore the name of _Perchance to Dream,_ it was to perhaps a warmer reception than Eustace had experienced on his first approach. The honour guard cleared the decks for the knight of legend – and such Eustace was, for his part in the voyage of the _Dawn Treader_ had been as famous as the others of that crew – and he landed delicately on the deck before setting Jill down and reverting to his smaller shape.

Jill was surprised to find that the guard bowed deeply to Eustace, and more surprised still to find them honouring her similarly. "Scrubb, what is this? Why are they…"

Eustace grinned. Actually _grinned_, which was something she hardly expected from the somewhat stuffy boy she'd known, or the more dreamy and unfocused version of their last year of school, for that matter. "The last five people to come from our world to this have all done great things. They expect and hope for the same from you. After all, my cousins are all kings or queens, and I myself – well."

She nodded, still trying to take it all in.

"But come along, do. If this ship has the same layout as _Dawn Treader-_" he glanced at the captain, who nodded, "Then the royal cabin is this way."

Jill followed her school friend, not noticing the subtle glances between the guard members that ended with a Minotaur shrugging and gesturing to one side of the ship.

His fellows joined him. "Are you sure it's okay to let them have the run of the ship?"

The Minotaur nodded. "I would trust Sir Eustace with my life. He saved the entire _Dawn Treader _from a sea serpent and had ample opportunity to destroy her when he wasn't well regarded by the crew. But he did not. As for the girl – well, she's a friend of his, and of Earth like as him. Narnia's done well by such."

* * *

"This is the man you mentioned? The Caspian?" Jill checked. "But he looks so… old."

The king chuckled. "Your world goes past slower than ours. When I last saw Eustace, he was only a few years younger than me. But let us not reminisce. Will you perform a quest for me, Jill, Daughter of Eve, and Eustace, Son of Adam?"

Eustace' reply was immediate. "For my part, I will follow your command, Sire."

"Such reverence. Very different from last time you were here." Caspian coughed again. "And miss… Poll, I believe?"

Jill frowned for a second. "I… I do believe I'm in rather over my head, Sire. But if Eustace thinks it's for the best, then for the best it is and I'll help."

"Such a faithful friend you have, Eustace. Well, then-" Caspian coughed again, but recovered quickly. "Well. I had but one child in my long life, since my dear Lilliandil was taken from me so tragically. It was a great serpent, that attacked her while she was out walking… she had no chance."

Eustace was struck by the tone of Caspian's voice. Melancholy, with the tempering of a long and full life to offset against the remembered tragedy – but still as sad as one could imagine.

"Rilian - my son - became convinced that he should gain vengeance for his mother's death. And one fine day, he vanished, though Drinian – the captain of _Dawn Treader_, I am sure you recall - told me that he had been visiting the place Lilliandil died, and was meeting with an enchanting woman there. He was to meet her again the day he did not return, ten full years hence."

Eustace frowned, remembering his own brush with temptation. It had been for good in the end, but the evil had still been there – and others of the crew had been similarly influenced, often by… something. Lucy had told him of when she had taken the place of Susan, and how it had led them to never discover Narnia. "You think the woman somehow stole him away?"

"I do not know." Caspian sighed, which turned into another coughing fit. "I beg of you, find what became of him. For my country, as much as for myself – but for him, above all."

"I shall." Eustace said simply.

"I, too." Jill added, seeming quite taken by the elderly king's sad tale.

"Thank you both, friends." Caspian frowned. "I do not believe you ever met the dwarf Trumpkin, Eustace?"

"No, though Ed and Lu told me of him." Eustace replied.

"It is good you know of him, then. Ask him to prepare you for your quest – he is my chief minister and regent, while I am gone."

Caspian smiled, weakly. "And now I am sure that my captain wishes us to leave, for we shall miss the tide. Fare well, Eustace. And fare well, Jill Poll."

* * *

"So." Trumpkin said, frowning at them. "So, you are the boy Caspian met on the _Dawn Treader_. The skeptic. The one who kept looking for a "British consulate", whatever that might happen to be."

Jill giggled, then clapped her hands over her mouth in mortification. Eustace shrugged. "I was startled to find myself having ended up at sea. And I was a bit of a pill then."

"Speak up!" Trumpkin snapped. "Anyway, you'll need a surcoat, and some kind of armour – oh, don't look at me like that. The King himself named you Sir Eustace Un-Dragoned, and that makes you a belted knight. Which reminds me, you'll need a sword as well. Someone fetch Lord Octesian's sword – I can't think of a better."

"I don't think I could carry the weight of armour." Eustace said, as loudly as he could. "And I doubt I'll need a sword."

"Course you'll need a sword. Knights have swords – and not everything is helpfully out in the open." Trumpkin waved the objection off. "Besides, the sword is worked with Aslan's blessing – may it bring you good fortune."

"Who was Lord Octesian?" Jill asked.

"A Telmar noble who disappeared on the same island I became a dragon." Eustace explained. "We always thought he'd turned into one himself, but he wasn't around to ask."

"Miss Poll. Do you have any weapons training?"

"I doubt it." Eustace said before she could answer. Then his lips quirked in a smile. "Though I've not seen a hockey or rounders game in some time. Could be that the skills there-"

"Oh, shut up, Scrubb." Jill said. "I'm willing to learn, master Dwarf."

"Willing to learn, did you say?" Jill nodded, and the old dwarf continued. "Good. Eustace's skills with the sword were lacking, I know that, since he spent so much time as a dragon when in the East. I'll send you with a skilled adventurer – Puddleglum, is his name. He's a Marsh-Wiggle."

"I have not heard of them." Eustace said, before shrugging. "But then, I still do not know how to tell speaking animals from those that do not, except by asking."

Trumpkin continued, apparently not noticing the comment. "I'll have young Corim direct you there, he's visited Puddleglum before."

"My cousins spoke of a Corim." Eustace frowned. "But I rather doubt he is the same."

"If they knew him, he won't be." The elderly dwarf said. "It's strange, to think of you people stepping through our history like the pages of a book."

"I'd rather stay, truth be told."

"Yes, well…" Trumpkin made a throwing motion with his hand. "So! I expect you'll want to get a meal inside you before you head off. The dinner's in the great hall in a few hours. Ah, do you have any particular wish?"

Jill looked to Eustace for guidance, who didn't much know what to expect himself. "If you've the available food, I'd like to have a meal as a dragon for once, for I have missed it. Aside from that, nothing springs to mind."

"Well, I'd better alert the cooks then. It's lucky so many are departing on _Perchance to Dream_, they should be able to manage the workload."

"Ah-" Jill raised a hand. "Shouldn't we have a saddle, for Eustace?" She blushed as Eustace frowned at her, but continued gamely. "Or something else to keep me on him. I'd rather prefer not to be carried in a hand again."

Eustace's expression cleared. "Ah, I see what you mean. I must confess, I didn't understand – Reepicheep always simply stood atop my head, and I didn't think."

"The same happens whenever a talking horse has accepted a rider." Trumpkin offered consolation. "The saddle and stirrups are still necessary, even if the bridle isn't."

Jill laughed. "I'd imagine a bridle on a dragon would be a losing proposition!"

"True… true…" Trumpkin muttered, tapping his glasses. "But it might be worth carrying one anyway."

"Steady on!" Eustace said, holding up his hands in warding.

"No, only to trick others."

"I see!" Jill said, still chuckling. "Any who see us would think Eustace a dumb beast. Not too far from the truth," she added with a mischievous wink.

"Master Trumpkin, is there some law against insulting a belted knight?" the boy in question asked plaintively.

"No, you're on your own, Son of Adam."

"I suppose it makes sense." Eustace sighed. "It's worse than being a prefect."

* * *

AN: Yes, another chapter of this. I hope I managed to keep the style of speech that one might expect from the characters...


End file.
